The present invention relates to a body part protector.
Sports have become a widely accepted activity. Sports, such as football, hockey, and baseball, require use of many parts of the body. The shin, elbow, wrist, ankle, hip, shoulder, knee, and thigh, for example, are thus susceptible to damage by the impact of the external forces. Sports regulations typically require the player to wear appropriate body part protectors to reduce injuries, to lower the chances of wounds and to generally safeguard the player.
As shown in FIG. 1, a known protector for the shin (or elbow) includes a shin pad 11, ankle sleeve 12, plastic hardboard 13, and a string 14. Shin pad 11 is a soft matrix or a matrix filled with sponge. Ankle sleeve 12 is connected at the lower end of shin pad 11, and plastic hardboard 13 is fixed to the back of the shin pad 11 to resist external impact. Although the plastic hardboard 13 can resist external impact force, the shin pad is soft. Therefore, an external force which impacts the hardboard is transferred by the hardboard directly onto the shin. Also, the arc shape of the surface of the hardboard (which allows it to fit closely to the shin) causes the impacting force to extend and concentrate from the central peak of the arc to the edges. This may cause harm to the shin and raises the probability of a wound.